04: days 11-13

 09.02-09.04

Since arriving in Tainan, we’ve actually been given a ton of time to explore the area and get better acquainted with the students at NCKU. I’ve decided that Tainan is definitely my favorite of the cities we’ve visited in Taiwan with its beautiful infrastructure, greenery, and lovely people!

    When we arrived on the 2nd, we spent the day getting introduced to NCKU’s design department and the campus (or at least the parts of campus we’d be on). We went on a tour led by some of the students and got to see their design buildings and their library, all of which were pretty incredible. The design facilities here are really nice and come with so much workspace for the students; I believe each industrial design year has their own classroom and desk space, allowing them to easily leave and store their work without needing to worry about constant clean up or transportation. It honestly made me a bit jealous even as a visual communication student because I can’t even begin to think of how many times I’ve dreaded having to transport my projects to and from my apartment each day.

    Since we were also done by 3pm this day, some of the students invited me to hang out in the evening since they know so many good spots to try. Alisa, Tracy, and Celine took Maya, Ai, Elden, and me over to a fried noodle restaurant that they often visit while at school. Afterwards they took us to a grass jelly treat down the street, both of which were amazing (but honestly, everything I’ve eaten in Taiwan has been ridiculously good). It was really cute getting closer with some of the students so quickly and even cooler getting to visit places they go in their day-to-day, rather than trying to find touristy spots in the area. I definitely wouldn’t have found these places without their help and they were for sure some of the best eats I’ve had so far!

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our scores (i was losing)

    

    Yesterday after classes, our new friends took us out to hotpot and bowling. We also got to try some sweet potato balls, which I've never tried before and were life changing-ly good...will be getting again!! We went to a bowling alley that Alisa often goes to, which ended up being very apparent as she was significantly better than the rest of us. It was a really sweet and kind of small bonding time, and I really appreciated getting to know everyone a little bit better. I’ve been telling them everyday, but I can’t believe how kind the NCKU students have been to us and their willingness to show us around. It feels so comforting coming from a foreign place and knowing that we are so welcome here.

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Today, being the 4th, we had our second free day of the program. I was once again super excited to explore Tainan, and we found out that these same students had already come together to plan on where to bring us (so sweet!!) so we started our day by sleeping in and then heading down to Sennong Street with Alisa. This area was beautiful, covered in multicolored lanterns and various local Taiwanese shops or toy stores. We were able to meet up with a friend from our VCD program while we hopped into each shop looking for blind boxes and escaping the heat. 

we love a mirror pic!

    For dinner, Tracy, Celine, and our new friend Lily wanted to take us to their favorite beef soup shop a ways away from campus. I was so excited to try it as I know beef soup is popular in Tainan, and this was another shop that they frequented during the school year. The food was insanely delicious and most people even went back for seconds! I’ve learned that I love Taiwanese food and I really really need some more of it to start popping up in the Seattle area. Additionally, I’ve been noticing that all of the food in Taiwan has a sort of sweetness to it that I’m not really used to—it seems like anything you would expect to be spicy or salty also has a very sugary flavor to it, and so I think it’s cool that I’m experiencing a cuisine very different from anything I’d been eating prior. 

    In all, the past few days have been so fun and I’m getting very attached to Tainan and my new friends. I need to take some more pictures, but I really can’t wait for more adventures over this final week and I can’t believe how fast the program has felt so far!